Thousands of square miles of Appalachian hardwood trees surround the Beech Fork Lake area, providing a habitat for wood warblers, vireos, thrushes, chats, cuckoos, ovenbirds, and many other forest dwelling birds.
The fruit commonly persist long into the winter after leaf fall; after being softened by frost they are readily eaten by thrushes and waxwings, which disperse the seeds.
In Brazil, where it was introduced from India during Portuguese colonization, it has dispersed spontaneously in the wild in some places, as its fruits are eagerly sought by various native birds such as thrushes, tanagers and the Great Kiskadee.
The thrushes are also known to kill both White-bellied and White-faced Storm Petrels directly, probably by taking them from their burrows.